Monday, April 27, 2015

Is the "Miami Innovation Tower" Right for Overtown/Park West? Guest Blog by 2Tall

Taller than the Space Needle

Do We Really Need such a Grandiose Erection?

A 600 foot tall advertising tower in Overtown/Park West may dominate the landscape in years to come that will top off the insult to Overtown itself that has was long ago done with the construction of I-95.

Is this really any path of progress towards racial or economic justice? Or is it a payoff on the road towards an endless culture of spectacle tucked within a newly commercialized space that will overwhelm the entire area and define Miami's future? This may well be become another sad moment when people speaking out could make a difference.

Who spoke out before I-95 came roaring though and devastated Overtown?

And this deal was just announced in the press on Friday. It's an insult to any kind of a democratic or thoughtful process. But perhaps typical of Miami. No one is against enhanced economic activity but this is not the way towards a better future.

Genius: Commissioner Keon Hardemon is your sister or any family member involved with lobbying for this structure or involved in any way? If so you must recuse yourself because it is the right thing to do. Make your community proud don't sell it out.Why is this district always a sell out? Do you want to displace all your friends with gentrification or improve their life? What's it going to be? Be a lawyer but be a good guy...

14 comments:

Anonymous
said...

I can't believe that the city commissioners are actually considering the approval of a 600 foot media tower with a LED lit bill boards flashing 24/7 that have a visibility of 20-30 miles. What are they thinking?

Probably not of those who will be looking at this from their homes 24/7 and they are probably not thinking of how it will downgrade the skyline and the image of the city of Miami.

A developer is on the brink of getting approval from the Miami City Commission to build a 600-foot-tall tower at the intersection of I-95 and I-395 that will feature huge digital billboards at the top flashing advertising 24/7.

Only in Miami would anyone propose such a plan. And only in Miami would it be given serious consideration. If built, the tower will be the most prominent feature of Miami’s skyline, taller than Seattle’s Space Needle. The digital billboards on all sides would be visible for 20-30 miles. This obscene structure will be what Miami becomes known for. We will be the laughing stock of the civilized world. The proposed tower will be a mockery of all our efforts to create a more livable city for the 21st century.

Background: Exposure to light at night may increase the risk of breast cancer by suppressing the normal nocturnal production of melatonin by the pineal gland, which, in turn, could increase the release of estrogen by the ovaries.

Journal of the National Cancer Institutehttp://jnci.oxfordjournals.org/content/93/20/1557.full

The Miami Herald reported that Michael Simpkins has been paying Barbara Hardemon, Keon's aunt, to lobby Keon as Keon and Marc Sarnoff spent the last 1-2 years pushing this abomination along. Simpkins also paid money to Sarnoff's Foundation and he paid money to Teresa Sarnoff. Then to be extra safe he paid Sarnoff's Campaign Manager Steve Marin. The Agenda item was only released to the public 4 days before the vote.

As a person who just spent 21 days sleeping on the 12th floor of the University of Miami Hospital, I can affirm that the airplanes already fly eastward just stories above the top floor of the building.

They are close enough at night that you wake up to the sound of jet engines roaring overhead.

Standing on the 7th floor (where the heliport is) and 2 or 3 stories below the building top, jets fly around the structure and over the jail to the southeast.

But, to be honest nothing is more un-nerving than lying on a cot facing east by the window and hearing the jets coming over and then seeing them so close. You see them and have to ponder if the people on the plane realize how close they are to building tops below.